The 5 Best Cereal Box Prizes From The '80s That Made Breakfast Fun
Okay, 'fess up. Were you the kid who patiently poured cereal into a bowl every morning, hoping that today would be the day the toy promised on the front of the box would finally flow out on top of a wave of sugary flakes? Or did you grab the box from the grocery bags your mother just brought home, stick your arm all the way into it, and swish it around until you felt the edge of plastic wrapping that protected your prize from the cereal (or the other way around)? Either way, few things were more exciting when you were a kid than finally getting the premium inside. If you grew up in the 1980s, some of the things that made it especially fun were wall crawlers, mini license plates, and collectibles.
Many of the toys — as well as the cereals themselves — reflected the pop culture of the time. Companies started licensing popular toy, television, and movie franchises. Snap, Crackle, and Pop were joined in the pantheon of lovable cereal mascots by the likes of Strawberry Shortcake, C-3PO, E.T., Pac-Man, the Ghostbusters, and Mr. T, who all had cereals named after them. And many of the most popular prizes tapped into trending toys of the time. By 1980, fast food chains had started selling kids' meals with toys, but knowing your morning meal might come with a special surprise helped start the day on a high note.
Wacky WallWalkers crawled down the wall
It's hard to believe now, but the sticky, plastic, octopus-shaped creature that would "crawl" down a wall after being thrown against it was one of the biggest fads of the 1980s. So it's probably no surprise that when the Wacky WallWalker started appearing in cereal boxes, it became one of the most coveted prizes. Slightly smaller than the original, the tiny octopods also glowed in the dark and could be found in a few Kellogg brands, including Froot Loops, Rice Krispies, Corn Pops, and Apple Jacks.
Leon Neons glowed in the dark
Another popular toy fad that made its way into cereal boxes was Leon Neon. An early version of the glow sticks that regularly light up the dance floor at celebrations and events, Leon Neon featured bendable, twistable glow-in-the-dark tubes that could be fashioned into jewelry, signs, and decorations. Kellogg included a small, bracelet-sized version of the tubes in some of its cereals, tapping into the popularity of the toy as well as kids' love for anything that would shed a little light in their darkened bedrooms.
Bikes lit up with Garfield reflectors
While parents might not have been thrilled that their kids seemed to idolize a self-centered, grumpy, lazy orange cat, they nonetheless went on a shopping spree for all things Garfield throughout the 1980s. Combining their love of Garfield with their fascination for anything that glowed in the dark, the Garfield bike reflector became not only one of the most coveted cereal prizes, but one that makes '80s kids most nostalgic — and another hit for Kellogg cereals.
Mini license plates became fun collectibles
In addition to adorning their bikes with reflectors, kids also liked to hang mini license plates from their bicycle seats, often with their names on them. General Mills started the trend by putting the plates in Wheaties boxes in the 1950s. Thirty years later, Post revived the trend, placing license plates in boxes for cereals like Alpha-Bits and Honeycomb. Kids spent years trying to collect the plates for all 50 states, buying a lot of cereal in the process. Instead of numbers, the plates had sayings that reflected each state's culture, like "AMERICA'S DAIRYLAND" for Wisconsin, a state famous for its bread cheese. Collectors can still find these plates on Etsy and eBay.
Honeycomb's digital watches were highly coveted
You wouldn't normally think of tapping into your cereal box for the hottest fashion trend, but in the 1980s, when Swatch watches were as wildly popular and highly coveted as the viral, limited-time Labubu desserts of 2025, Honeycomb jumped on the bandwagon with its own line of plastic-banded watches. The digital watches displayed the date and time and, in addition to coming in bright colors, had graphic designs similar to those on some Swatches. These limited-run premiums, too, soon became collectible items.